I have known since my youth that my father was a descendant of Oliver Ellsworth from Windsor, Connecticut, who lived from 1750 to 1807. My father’s mother was an Ellsworth, and that was rather a big deal in my family.

We were aware that his home—named “Elmwood”— is now a museum, and that Oliver
was the Third Chief Justice of the United States, the last to sit in Philadelphia. There is
a plaque with his name on it, affixed to the brick building next to Independence Hall, that
served as the first Supreme Court. I have seen it more than once.

More recently I have learned that Oliver Ellsworth’s great uncle, his grandfather’s
brother Thomas, is my lineal, or direct, ancestor, by a mere seven generations. Thus,
we are cousins.

With all the “America 250” fever building, I began to get more interested in learning
about my ancestor. I have, so far, read multiple accounts of his life, and watched both
old and new documentaries of our country’s founding, and more interestingly, his
compatriots. They have included President George Washington, who appointed
Ellsworth to the Bench, and President John Adams, who was sworn into office by the
good Justice. In fact, Adams was the first president to be sworn into office by a member
of the Supreme Court. (It, like the country, was very new then).

What I found fascinating, among many things as I pursued my early research, was how
much more I learned about Ellsworth when I studied other personages, like George
Washington, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and Alexander
Hamilton (who was the first to plead a case in Ellsworth’s court—and also won).
Ellsworth is sometimes referred to as an “under- appreciated” or “lesser-known”
founding father, and there may be more than one reason for that.

For one, although he was a member of the Second Continental Congress, one has the
impression that Ellsworth did not orate for personal aggrandizement or gain. That was
not always the case with others, like Adams and Hamilton, whom historians often
perceive and portray as being very aware of how history would record, and therefore,
regard them. Nonetheless, Ellsworth successfully suggested that the words the “United
States of America” be used as our country’s moniker, and thus it was written in the
constitution. Jefferson had referred to the nascent country as the united (small “u”)
States of America in the Declaration of Independence but other suggestions for the
Constitution included use of the words “national” or “federated” as well as others.
Ellsworth preferred the “United States” because it represented the new statehood status
of the thirteen original colonies, while simultaneously pointing to the fact that they were
now united as a country.

I like how his mind worked.

At a crucial point in the Congress’ deliberations about the legislative branch of the
government, Ellsworth succeeded, by use of his well-known ability to gain consensus, to
overcome some of the smaller states’ concerns about equal representation. Arguments
had become so heated, that at times, the very creation of the nation seemed to be in
peril.

Ellsworth suggested that in addition to the House of Representatives, a Senate should
be created, that would allow each state to have the same number of members. He, and
his fellow Connecticut representative Roger Sherman, who was apparently the chief
writer of the resolution that later came to be known as the “Connecticut Compromise”,
were given credit for saving the Continental Congress from the embarrassment of not
ever getting the new nation off the ground in the first place.

With that problem solved, Ellsworth was appointed to be one of the five members of the
Committee of Detail, that was charged with writing the first draft of the Constitution itself.
Thus, Ellsworth is frequently cited as being a “Framer” or “Drafter” of the U.S.
Constitution. (The final version was later written by the Committee of Style).

Unfortunately, an emergency at home in Connecticut precluded his being present to
sign the final printed draft of the Constitution in Philadelphia, and that is another reason,
I think, that he is so easily overlooked in our history. One historian commented that
Ellsworth “did not find it necessary to sign the document, for he knew how well he had
contributed to it”. That struck even me as being a little sanctimonious, but it certainly
would be a welcome choice of character-description, if it is true.

When he served in the new Senate as the first representative for the state of
Connecticut, Ellsworth was the force behind, and the primary writer of the Judiciary Act
which set up the federal judiciary system, including the Supreme Court, that exists in
our country even today. He left the Senate in 1796 to accept the invitation of President
Washington to become the third Chief Justice of that very Supreme Court that he had
helped to create.

Perhaps his final significant accomplishment was to negotiate a peace treaty with
Napoleon in 1800. President Adams sent Ellsworth to help keep America out of a war
with France, maritime skirmishes of which had already started, over trade (sound
familiar?). Certainly, the young nation could ill-afford, and certainly did not relish fighting
another war, so soon after its own Revolution.

Adams chose Ellsworth because he was respected by Napoleon (how that was known, I
am not certain). Nevertheless, the Treaty of Mortefontaine (also known as the
Convention of 1800) was procured, and is often cited as the one positive
accomplishment of John Adams’ presidency — which was not, by and large, a happy or
successful one. Hence, he was not re-elected for a second term.

Unfortunately for Oliver Ellsworth, the Atlantic crossing wreaked havoc on his health
(such voyages could take up to two or three months) and he resigned from the role of
Chief Justice in 1800, while he was still in France.

Despite the significant political accomplishments of my cousin Oliver Ellsworth, I find it
equally, if not more, gratifying to have discovered that he was a good man.

He married Abigail Wolcott, from a wealthy and well-known Connecticut family who had
arrived in America in the early seventeenth century. She bore nine children, and seven
survived to adulthood. Like their father, all of their sons attended Yale and trained in the
law. All of the children, including the daughters, entered into public service of some kind
in their adulthoods.

Their Homestead, called Elmwood because of the thirteen elm trees that Ellsworth
planted there to represent the original thirteen colonies, shows signs of an elegant life
for the family, but not extravagant. Unlike Washington’s Mount Vernon and Jefferson’s
Monticello that depended on slave labor, Ellsworth, due to his moral view against
enslavement, did not own slaves. Thus, Elmwood is more modest (though appropriately
large) and of a typical New England wood clapboard style.

President Washington and President Adams each visited Elmwood, with about ten
years separating their visits to the Ellsworths.

Apparently, Oliver’s one indulgence was the use of snuff. He was known, as well, as a
charitable man, and one who not only sought compromise and consensus, but was
skilled at achieving them.

He succeeded both as a landowner and a man of the law and was a devout Calvinist.
He attended the local Congregational church every Sunday, and preferred to walk the
one mile there, rather than to taking the carriage, for fear of offending his less-wealthy
neighbors. As in his governing style, he appeared not to desire to bring attention to
himself, for its own sake.

His one failure may be that he did not agitate enough to abolish slavery completely
when he was in more of a position to do so. Ellsworth thought that a sudden abolition
would cause too great an economic upheaval for the young nation, which had, after all,
been built on the economic premise of enslavement. He was apparently among those
who believed that given enough time, and the right circumstances, slavery as an institution
would collapse in on itself and die. If I understand my cousin’s thinking correctly, he was
clearly wrong about that; no such implosion occurred and it would take another war, sixty
more years, and a very adept President Lincoln to see that through.

As much as I would like to describe my cousin’s life as unblemished, both personally
and politically, I think it unreasonable to expect such a record of so devoted and well-
meaning a person. He also enjoyed, if that is the best word, not only national, but
international recognition and reputation, thus increasing his exposure. But his priorities
were clear. When it counted, he took care of his family, his property, his business and
his home state of Connecticut. Then, he gave generously to his country—while
contributing markedly to its very creation.

I respect that entirely.

President John Adams once said that Ellsworth was “one of the firmest pillars” of the
new government. I admire Adams, so I take that as a point of great satisfaction.
I only hope that my ancestral cousin, Oliver Ellsworth, heard Adams say that…

Copyright 2026, Ann L. Vivian
annlvivian.com